Xbox Livehttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/xbox-live
en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 10:46:43 -0500Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:46:43 -0500The latest news on Xbox Live from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-live-gold-games-december-2016-2016-11These are the free Xbox games for Decemberhttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-live-gold-games-december-2016-2016-11
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 09:00:00 -0500Alex Perry
<p>Every month, Xbox Live Gold subscribers get four free games across the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. That's four games across two consoles for $60 per year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's generally a good mix of bigger retail games and smaller indie games, and December's offering is no different. Here is what you can expect for the month of December&nbsp;on Xbox Live:</p><h3>"Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition" for Xbox One, Dec. 1-31</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/583475cdba6eb64e018b5339-400-300/sleeping-dogs-definitive-edition-for-xbox-one-dec-1-31.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Sleeping Dogs" is a criminally underrated "Grand Theft Auto" style open-world action game. You play as Wei Shen, who has to live a double life as an undercover cop investigating organized crime in the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong.</p>
<p>A fun story with memorable characters will propel you through the game, which also has excellent melee combat and plenty of mayhem to cause in the game's virtual Hong Kong.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Outlast" for Xbox One, Dec. 16-Jan.15</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58347681ba6eb637008b5c44-400-300/outlast-for-xbox-one-dec-16-jan15.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Outlast" is a first-person horror romp through an ethically dubious mental asylum. You'll hide and run away from enemies&nbsp;in dark, murky corridors in one of the scariest games of the past few years.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Outland" for Xbox One and Xbox 360, Dec. 1-15</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5834771bba6eb671018b5c59-400-300/outland-for-xbox-one-and-xbox-360-dec-1-15.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Outland" was vastly underrated when it came out in 2011. It's a side-scrolling adventure game where you navigate a large open world, unlocking new abilities that let you access new areas.</p>
<p>Its main gimmick was a color-switching system where players pressed a button to switch from blue to red. You can absorb projectiles of the same color, while you're hurt by projectiles of the other color. This leads to plenty of perilous platforming sequences and boss fights, where you need to switch at a moment's notice.&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-live-gold-games-december-2016-2016-11#/#burnout-paradise-for-xbox-one-and-xbox-360-dec-16-31-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-in-november-2016-10These are the free Xbox games for Novemberhttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-in-november-2016-10
Wed, 02 Nov 2016 10:58:00 -0400Alex Perry
<p>Every month, Xbox Live Gold subscribers get four free games across the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. That's four games across two consoles for $60 per year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's generally a good mix of bigger retail games and smaller indie games, and November's offering is no different. Here is what you can expect for the month of November on Xbox Live:</p><h3>November 1-30 on Xbox One: "Super Dungeon Bros."</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58125585b28a642b008b566d-400-300/november-1-30-on-xbox-one-super-dungeon-bros.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Super Dungeon Bros." is a co-op action-adventure game for up to four players. It takes place in a heavy metal-inspired fantasy world filled with enemies, traps and more. No bros left behind.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>November 16-December 16 on Xbox One: "Murdered: Soul Suspect"</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/581255efb28a644d008b5674-400-300/november-16-december-16-on-xbox-one-murdered-soul-suspect.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Detective Ronan O'Connor has been mysteriously murdered, but that won't stop his sleuthing. In "Murdered: Soul Suspect," you step into his deceased shoes as he uses his newfound ghostly abilities to solve his own murder in this mystery adventure game.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>November 1-15 on Xbox 360 and Xbox One: "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/571f74e4dd0895052e8b4767-400-300/november-1-15-on-xbox-360-and-xbox-one-the-secret-of-monkey-island-special-edition.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Return to one of the greatest adventure games of all time in the special remastered version of "The Secret of Monkey Island." The old computer game has been revamped with enhanced visuals and a more intuitive interface to help you enjoy the hilarious nautical humor without any of the hassle of the original game.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-in-november-2016-10#/#november-16-30-on-xbox-360-and-xbox-one-far-cry-3-blood-dragon-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-october-2016-9Here are all the free Xbox games for October (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-october-2016-9
Thu, 29 Sep 2016 15:39:44 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: Every single game offered through Games with Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/57ed5c44b0ef9766008b90ed-2048/screen%20shot%202016-09-29%20at%202.23.39%20pm.png" alt="Xbox Games with Gold October" data-mce-source="Xbox"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this October.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-plus-free-games-october-2016-9" >Here are all the PlayStation games you can get for free in October</a></strong></p>
<h3>"Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57ed45a7077dccfc298b6066-400-300/super-mega-baseball-extra-innings.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Though I can't personally speak to its quality, gaming site Polygon seems to be a big fan of "Super Mega Baseball" &mdash; it was named their <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/17/7408391/2014-in-review-sports-game-of-the-year">Sports Game of the Year</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>It seems to have the rigor of a hardcore baseball simulator, but with a goofy, cartoony skin stretched over it.</p>
<p>At any rate, now's a perfect time to give this game a shot, because its developer, Metalhead, is coming out with a sequel next year.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;October 1 to October 31</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"The Escapists"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57ed464b077dcca2018b8fe3-400-300/the-escapists.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Trying to make the prison industrial complex a humorous, light video game experience is no easy task, but "The Escapists" certainly makes a valiant effort.</p>
<p>It's&nbsp;an open world, strategy/puzzle game in which you play a prisoner plotting their escape. You can buy contraband from other prisoners, finding and trading items to help in your plot, all while hiding the evidence from everyone else so they can't blow your cover.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;October 16&nbsp;to November&nbsp;15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"MX vs ATV Reflex"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57ed67d0077dcc67208b7fa1-400-300/mx-vs-atv-reflex.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>This driving&nbsp;game's most interesting feature is that it has&nbsp;dynamic terrain that gets damaged and scarred throughout the race as vehicles drive over it.</p>
<p>"MX vs ATV Reflex" received positive-ish reviews upon its release in 2009, so you can probably skip it unless you really have a hankering for some off-road action.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;October 1&nbsp;to October&nbsp;15</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-october-2016-9#/#i-am-alive-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-september-2016-8Here are all the free Xbox games for September (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-september-2016-8
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:21:12 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: Every single game offered through Games with Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/57bdbb44ce38f234008b8883-2048/screen%20shot%202016-08-24%20at%2011.14.24%20am.png" alt="Games with Gold September 2016" data-mce-source="Xbox/YouTube"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this September.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-end-of-console-generations-2016-8" >The future of the Xbox will probably be a lot like the iPhone</a></strong></p>
<h3>"Earthlock: Festival of Magic"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57bdbd50ce38f236008b89ab-400-300/earthlock-festival-of-magic.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>&nbsp;"Earthlock: Festival of Magic" is a brand-new RPG making its debut on the&nbsp;Xbox One as a totally free game for Games with Gold members.</p>
<p>It looks like it will be&nbsp;reminiscent of the&nbsp;Japanese RPG "Final Fantasy," but with more of an animated, painterly art style.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;September 1 to September 30</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57bdbe0fce38f252008b89a0-400-300/assassins-creed-chronicles-china.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The second game available for free is "Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China" a side-scrolling spin-off of the popular "Assassin's Creed" series.</p>
<p>When it first came out in April 2015, it received middling reviews, but it certainly boasts a gorgeous art style and a compelling setting that's yet to be explored in the full-blown "Assassin's Creed" series&nbsp;thus far.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;September 16&nbsp;to October&nbsp;15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Forza Horizon"</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/57bdbecadb5ce92c168b8858-400-300/forza-horizon.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Forza Horizon"&nbsp;is one of the most beloved racing games in recent memory. With the September 27 release date for "Forza Horizon 3" just around the corner, now's a great time to catch up.</p>
<p>Featuring around 300 different cars and a large open world, "Forza Horizon" is definitely worth checking out if you missed it when it first came out on Xbox 360.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;September 1&nbsp;to September&nbsp;15</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-september-2016-8#/#mirrors-edge-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-august-2016-7Here are all the free Xbox games coming in Augusthttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-august-2016-7
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 14:27:07 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: Every single game offered through Games With Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5797ab8cdd08951f538b47fb-780/august%20games%20with%20gold.png" alt="august games with gold" data-mce-source="Xbox"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this August.</p><h3>"Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate"</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5797ab8cdd08951f538b47fd-400-300/warriors-orochi-3-ultimate.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate" is a crossover between the "Dynasty Warriors" and the "Samurai Warriors" franchises.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's essentially an over-the-top tactical action game, where your hero (of which there are 120 to choose from) can slay hordes of anonymous enemy soldiers with a single swing of a sword.&nbsp;</p>
<p>If you're a fan of the "Hyrule Warriors" series for Wii U and 3DS, which is essentially a Zelda-fied version of "Dynasty Warriors," this will be right up your alley.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;August 1&nbsp;to&nbsp;August 31</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"WWE 2K16"</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5797ab8cdd08951f538b47fe-400-300/wwe-2k16.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>WWE games have long been a staple of the console game world, and soon you'll be able to get "WWE 2K16" totally free.</p>
<p>Much like other WWE games, this one boasts a robust character creation system, allowing you to customize everything from their hair color to the song that plays when they walk on stage.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;August 16&nbsp;to&nbsp;September 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Spelunky"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5797ab8cdd08951f538b47ff-400-300/spelunky.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Spelunky" is one of the most beloved indie games of the past several years, for good reason.</p>
<p>The entire game is procedurally generated &mdash; meaning that the levels are different every single time you play through it.&nbsp;You choose to navigate through its levels in a variety of ways, because you can dig through nearly anything.</p>
<p>Think of it like an old-school sidescroller, like "Super Mario Bros.," but given a fresh breath of life for the 21st century.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;August 1&nbsp;to&nbsp;August 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-august-2016-7#/#beyond-good-and-evil-hd-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-july-2016-6Here are all the free Xbox games coming in Julyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-july-2016-6
Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:11:00 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: every single game offered through Games With Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5773efa5dd0895ec6c8b487b-2048/screen%20shot%202016-06-29%20at%209.11.18%20am.png" alt="Xbox Games With Gold July 2016" data-mce-source="YouTube/Xbox"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this July.</p><h3>"The Banner Saga 2"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5773efa5dd0895ec6c8b487d-400-300/the-banner-saga-2.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The second in what will eventually be&nbsp;a trilogy, "The Banner Saga 2" is a turn-based tactical&nbsp;role-playing game that has the illustrated look of an animated Disney movie.</p>
<p>Don't let its colorful art style fool you, though:&nbsp;"The Banner Saga 2" offers a rich and fascinating narrative&nbsp;in addition to its rigorous combat mechanics.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;July 1&mdash;July 31</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Tumblestone"</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5773efa5dd0895ec6c8b487e-400-300/tumblestone.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Tumblestone" is a match three-style puzzle game not unlike "Bejeweled" or "Candy Crush" &mdash;&nbsp;but the real draw is that it offers a competitive multiplayer mode in addition to the standard single player mode.</p>
<p>In the multiplayer mode,&nbsp;you'll see everyone's boards on screen side-by-side, so you have to balance speed and accuracy to clear your board of all its tiles before your competitors do the same.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;July 16&mdash;August 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2"</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5773efa5dd0895ec6c8b487f-400-300/tom-clancys-rainbow-six-vegas-2.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>One of the Xbox 360's classics is now compatible with Xbox One! "Rainbow Six Vegas 2" is a pretty standard, but well-executed military first-person shooter that plays out like a high-octane action film.</p>
<p>The most recent entry in the Tom Clancy series, "Rainbow Six Siege," is probably more technically refined, but it's definitely worth&nbsp;going back to play "Rainbow Six Vegas 2" if you&nbsp;didn't get the chance when it first came out in 2008.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;July 1&mdash;July 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-july-2016-6#/#tron-evolution-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/new-xbox-one-gender-inclusivity-filter-2016-6The Xbox One is taking a major step toward fixing online harassment in gameshttp://www.businessinsider.com/new-xbox-one-gender-inclusivity-filter-2016-6
Mon, 13 Jun 2016 17:04:32 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Playing video games online with anonymous strangers can lead to...less than pleasant exchanges. Too often these exchanges&nbsp;are filled with racist, sexist, and/or homophobic slurs.</p>
<p>Microsoft's&nbsp;Xbox group knows this type of experience is all too common, and it's actually doing something to make online gaming a slightly less terrible place.</p>
<p>A new&nbsp;"group finder" feature coming soon to Xbox One allows users to post a sort of classified ad, like this:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/575f075bdd0895434b8b4870-1180/lfg_halo.png" alt="looking for group xbox live" data-mce-source="Microsoft" /></p>
<p>The biggest takeaway from this new feature is that last filter &mdash; <em>see it?</em> &mdash; labeled "Gender inclusive."</p>
<p>This means that, when you're seeking out groups of people to play online with, you can choose to only see players who have identified themselves as "gender inclusive," thus hopefully weeding out some of the terrible riff-raff normally associated with online multiplayer.</p>
<p>In a statement sent to Tech Insider, a representative from Xbox&nbsp;said the following:&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The filters that are listed will be community created. Of course, when we launch the feature, there will be some filters that are there to start, but the community can define their own. Over time, the top filter tags will rise and become standards, [but at the end of the day] it&rsquo;s all about choice so leaving this in the community&rsquo;s hands to define for themselves."</p>
<p>Using these filters could go a long way towards making online gaming a much more pleasant experience for everyone, so let's hope tools like this become the norm.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-xbox-one-gender-inclusivity-filter-2016-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-one-s-video-2016-6">Here’s your first look at the gorgeous new Xbox One S</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-june-2016-5Here are all the free Xbox games for Junehttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-june-2016-5
Tue, 31 May 2016 12:56:57 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: every single game offered through Games With Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/574dc261dd089514318b4767-2048/screen%20shot%202016-05-27%20at%2010.09.17%20am.png" alt="Xbox Games With Gold June" data-mce-source="YouTube/Xbox" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GMCubnsr88&amp;oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-GMCubnsr88&amp;has_verified=1"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this June:</p><h3>"Goat Simulator"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/574dc261dd089514318b4769-400-300/goat-simulator.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Haven't you always wanted to play a video game where you can play as a goat roaming around a giant city, causing as much mayhem as possible?</p>
<p>No? Well, I bet you do now.</p>
<p>According to the its <a href="https://store.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox-One/Games/Goat-Simulator/e802e200-54ef-4fc6-a141-67e6dffadd8b?cid=majornelson">official description</a>, "Goat Simulator is a completely stupid game and, to be honest, you should probably spend your money on something else, such as a hula hoop, a pile of bricks, or maybe pool your money together with your friends and buy a real goat." So, there you have it: not as good as a real goat, but pretty cool nonetheless. And hey, it's free.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;June 1&mdash;June 30</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"The Crew"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/574dc261dd089514318b476a-400-300/the-crew.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"The Crew" mixes the racing genre with the massive multiplayer online (MMO) genre.</p>
<p>Players can drive across a massively detailed re-creation of the United States, exploring widely varied landscapes that are absolutely gorgeous.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;June 16&mdash;July 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Super Meat Boy"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/574dc261dd089514318b476b-400-300/super-meat-boy.jpg" alt="" />
<p> <p>A modern classic in the 2D platforming genre (think "Super Mario"), "Super Meat Boy" made major waves when it originally came out in 2010. And that's for good reason: It's fantastic.</p>
<p>"Super Meat Boy" hearkens back to the golden age of retro platformers, but it's punishingly hard, slick, and boasts a wonderful self-aware sense of humor.</p>
<p>Its creation was chronicled in the documentary "Indie Game: The Movie," and for the first half of June, you can grab "Super Meat Boy" for free.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong>&nbsp;June 1&mdash;June 15</p> </p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-june-2016-5#/#xcom-enemy-unknown-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-may-2016-4Here are all the free Xbox games for Mayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-may-2016-4
Mon, 02 May 2016 14:26:59 -0400Tim Mulkerin
<p>Did you know there are free games released every month on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One? It's true!</p>
<p>If you pay $60 annually for an Xbox Live Gold membership, you get a handful of free games every single month. The program works very similarly to Sony's PlayStation Plus program, with one significant difference: every single game offered through Games With Gold is <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-games-list-2016-4">compatible with Xbox One</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57279c04dd089544038b47f1-1662-1143/screen%20shot%202016-04-28%20at%201.42.57%20pm.png" alt="microsoft xbox games with gold may" data-mce-source="YouTube/Xbox"></p>
<p>Even if you don't own an Xbox 360, you can still download free Xbox 360 titles every month directly onto your Xbox One. And they work on the Xbox One! Voila!</p>
<p>Here are all the games available this May:</p><h3>"Defense Grid 2"</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57279c04dd089544038b47f4-400-300/defense-grid-2.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"Defense Grid 2" is a big and colorful tower defense game where you have to defend your base against waves of alien invaders.&nbsp;Strategy is key as you have to decide which types of weaponry will be most effective against your attackers.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong> May 1&mdash;May 31</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"Costume Quest 2"</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/57279c04dd089544038b47f5-400-300/costume-quest-2.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>This cute and quirky role-playing game centers around a group of kids as they trick-or-treat on Halloween. Changing into various costumes &mdash; like a clown or a superhero &mdash; grants you different powers to fight off dastardly dentists who want nothing more than to take away all of your candy.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong> May 16&mdash;June 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"GRID 2"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/57279c04dd089544038b47f6-400-300/grid-2.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Not to be confused with the very similarly-named "Defense Grid 2," which is also available this month, "GRID 2" is a big and pretty racing simulator game featuring tracks from around the world, including Paris, Miami, Hong Kong, and Dubai.</p>
<p><strong>Platforms:</strong> Xbox 360, Xbox One</p>
<p><strong>Availability:</strong> May 1&mdash;May 15</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-xbox-games-with-gold-may-2016-4#/#peggle-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-gaming-revenue-up-despite-tanking-xbox-hardware-revenue-2016-4Microsoft figured out how to grow its gaming business despite tanking Xbox hardware revenue (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-gaming-revenue-up-despite-tanking-xbox-hardware-revenue-2016-4
Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:45:20 -0400Brandt Ranj
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/571a3cd852bcd01b008be60a-715-536/xbox live.jpg" alt="xbox live.JPG" data-mce-source="Xbox 360 screencap" />Microsoft's gaming division managed to deliver&nbsp;a 4% revenue boost <a href="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://c.s-microsoft.com/en-us/CMSFiles/MSFT_FY16Q3_10Q.docx?version=6deaf1bf-a9ca-7733-78ec-a1b7ec5f94cf">in the &nbsp;first three months of the year</a>, even as its flagship Xbox gaming console hit a bumpy road.</span></p>
<p>The gaming business' overall increase is primarily due to the company's Xbox Live online service, which officially crossed 44 million members.</p>
<p>That's up 26% from the membership&nbsp;<span class="s1">compared to this time last year</span>. And all those new members helped Microsoft's gaming service collect 22% more revenue than it did last year. Overall transactions among all Xbox Live subscribers also increased during the&nbsp;quarter, Microsoft&nbsp;said.</p>
<p><span>Xbox game revenue is up 9%&nbsp;</span><span class="s1">compared to the year ago</span><span>, thanks in large part to sales of Minecraft, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-buys-minecraft-2014-9">which Microsoft bought the rights to in late 2014 for $2.5 billion.</a></span></p>
<p><span>While Xbox's software side is doing well, hardware revenue took a nose dive, dropping 26% compared to the same period last year. The two factors that contributed to the decline was a sharp drop in unit sales for the Xbox 360,&nbsp;and slashing the Xbox One's price down to $299. </span><span>As time goes on Xbox One hardware will become less expensive to produce, but for the time being Microsoft will have to rely on continuing software gains to offset its hardware struggles.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earnings-q3-fy-2016-2016-4" >Microsoft stock belly-flops on earnings miss, tax hit, and weak guidance</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-gaming-revenue-up-despite-tanking-xbox-hardware-revenue-2016-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charge-iphone-faster-2016-11">How to supercharge your iPhone in 5 minutes</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-xbox-one-cross-network-play-2016-3Microsoft is cozying up to its enemies in the gaming market (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-xbox-one-cross-network-play-2016-3
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 13:57:41 -0400Matt Weinberger
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55a546d92acae716008b6ae3-1920-1080/rocketleague_1.jpg" alt="" data-mce-source="Psyonix" /></p><p>Today, <a href="http://news.xbox.com/2016/03/14/letter-chris-charla-idxbox-updates-gdc/">Microsoft announced</a>&nbsp;that it's opening up its Xbox Live gaming service to support "cross-network play" that will let gamers compete with players on "<span>different online multiplayer networks."</span>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>&nbsp;</span><span>The popular "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rocket-league-review-2015-7">Rocket League</a>," which is like soccer with cars, is the first announced game&nbsp;to support the cross-network functionality.</span></p>
<p><span>At launch, it's only Windows 10 vs. Xbox, but Microsoft says there's an "open invitation" to other networks. This theoretically means that players on an Xbox One console could one day play against Sony PlayStation gamers on the PlayStation Network service, or PC gamers on Steam.</span></p>
<p><span></span><span>This assumes&nbsp;developers decide to use&nbsp;the feature in their games and that the other networks accept Microsoft's invitation.</span></p>
<p><span> I hope they do:&nbsp;</span><span>As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3">our friends at Tech Insider note</a>, it's always been kind of dumb that Xbox gamers can't play against PlayStation gamers.</span></p>
<p><span>But for Microsoft, it's a sign of an important strategic shift at the whole company.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>In the same way you can use Microsoft Word on an iPhone these days, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-big-plan-for-the-xbox-one-make-it-more-like-microsoft-office-2016-2">Microsoft doesn't really care where or with whom you play</a>. Microsoft's recent party line is "putting the customer at the center."</span></p>
<p><span>Want to play Xbox games against PlayStation owners? Cool. Want to use SQL Server on Linux? That's fine, too. The hope, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-on-culture-2015-10">as expressed repeatedly by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella</a>, is that customers in all markets will enjoy using Microsoft products and platforms so much that they'll&nbsp;choose them, not because they&nbsp;were forced in to them.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span></span><span><span>Which is to say, Microsoft is just trying to pull out all the stops and make Windows 10 gaming as attractive as possible. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/56e6fa2052bcd044008b634e-2971-2228/gettyimages-170297712.jpg" alt="phil spencer microsoft xbox" data-mce-source="Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian" data-mce-caption="Microsoft Xbox head Phil Spencer" /></span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Taking a long-term view, and assuming developers jump aboard, it means that having a Windows 10 computer will mean that you'll be able to play games with just about everyone, across most devices: PC-to-PC, PC-to-Xbox, PC-to-PlayStation, all from Windows 10.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Windows 10 is the forefront of Microsoft's philosophy right now, with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-phil-spencer-xbox-as-a-service-2016-2">Xbox One console slowly but surely getting closer to a Windows PC</a>.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Microsoft hopes that once you're on Windows 10, you'll buy more apps from the Windows Store, you'll subscribe to Office 365, you'll buy OneDrive storage, you'll <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-10-drives-bing-revenue-versus-google-2015-10">make more Bing searches</a>, and, yes, you'll like Windows gaming so much you'll subscribe to the $60/year Xbox Live service.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Taking the lead in making cross-platform play possible is a great signal of how Microsoft is trying to turn openness to competitors into a great lever for its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/office-365-subscriptions-are-pricey-2015-5">most proftable businesses</a>.</span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3" >This is HUGE: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can finally play online games together</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-xbox-one-cross-network-play-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/destroyed-coral-reef-in-cayman-islands-paul-allen-microsoft-yacht-2016-1">A Microsoft cofounder’s $165 million yacht allegedly destroyed a protected coral reef</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can finally play online games togetherhttp://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 13:35:00 -0400Ben Gilbert
<p>Microsoft is opening up its Xbox Live online service to gamers on other platforms&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;namely, PlayStation 4 and PC.&nbsp;<em>Whoa</em>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5518dacc69beddc96e8d4786-2872-1195/screen shot 2015-03-30 at 1.09.33 am.png" alt="halo 5 guardians" data-mce-source="YouTube/Xbox" /></p>
<p>In a move that's up there with Sonic the Hedgehog appearing next to Super Mario in a video game, <a href="https://news.xbox.com/2016/03/14/letter-chris-charla-idxbox-updates-gdc/">Microsoft announced this morning on its Xbox blog</a> that it's opening up the Xbox Live online platform &mdash; the service you use to play games online through an Xbox One or Xbox 360 &mdash; to every platform.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">First, in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we&rsquo;re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks &ndash; including other console and PC networks.</p>
<p>That's a&nbsp;<em>huge</em> move.</p>
<p>It means games like "Destiny" or "Call of Duty" could be played online, together, by players who are on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It means Microsoft is putting the ball in Sony's court on doing the right thing: making as many cross-platform games as possible playable across both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Think about the situation right now: you buy this year's "Call of Duty" on Xbox One, and your buddy buys it on PlayStation 4. You want to play the game online together, but you can't. It's the same game, with the same online modes. The only reason you can't play the game online together is because you're on different platforms, and the platform-makers &mdash; Sony and Microsoft &mdash; don't allow you to play games online with people on the rival's platform.&nbsp;</p>
<p>That's&nbsp;<em>dumb</em>. Microsoft is saying, "We agree. That is dumb. Enough.", and enabling game makers who are developing games for both platforms &mdash; the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One &mdash; to allow online play across both. Rad!</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55c0fdf9dd0895225c8b45a1-1920-1080/screen shot 2015-06-23 at 10.35.55 am.png" alt="destiny" data-mce-source="Bungie" />Considering Microsoft and Sony's long rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation, this is a pretty major philosophical shift. It's a smart move from a company that's putting up a solid fight against the PlayStation 4's continued dominance in sales (over 36 million sold). Frankly, we're excited to see what comes of this from Sony's side; we reached out and haven't heard back just yet.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Tech Insider favorite "Rocket League" is getting cross-platform support for online play between Xbox One and PC. Bizarrely, the game already has cross-platform support between PlayStation 4 and PC, just not between all three platforms. Rather, PlayStation 4 players can play with PC players, and Xbox One players can play with PC players, but Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players can't play together. Which is just as silly as it sounds.</p>
<p>Maybe "Rocket League" will&nbsp;be the first game in a new, consumer-first paradigm where you can simply play games with your friends regardless of what platform they bought the game on! Fingers crossed, but maybe don't bet on it.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-one-online-play-to-sony-pc-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/destiny-the-taken-king-game-features-2015-9">3 reasons you should really start playing 'Destiny'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-work-and-play-bundle-office-xbox-live-deal-2015-11As far as pre-Black Friday deals go, Microsoft nailed this onehttp://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-work-and-play-bundle-office-xbox-live-deal-2015-11
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 16:17:00 -0500Jeff Dunn
<p><em>The <a href="businessinsider.com/insiderpicks" target="_blank">Insider Picks</a> team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;subid=&amp;offerid=402138.1&amp;type=10&amp;tmpid=3763&amp;RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoftstore.com%2Fstore%2Fmsusa%2Fen_US%2Fpdp%2FproductID.326420400%3FWT.mc_id%3DWPBundle_WPcom_V3_US_PdP" target="_blank"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/563bbabd9dd7cc18008c7adb-862-647/m1.jpg" alt="microsoft store crowd" data-mce-source="Digital Trends" /></a>This has been going on for a couple of days now, but if you&rsquo;re invested in the world of Microsoft, take a look at </span><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;subid=&amp;offerid=402138.1&amp;type=10&amp;tmpid=3763&amp;RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoftstore.com%2Fstore%2Fmsusa%2Fen_US%2Fpdp%2FproductID.326420400%3FWT.mc_id%3DWPBundle_WPcom_V3_US_PdP"><span style="font-weight: 400;">its latest Work &amp; Play bundle</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For $150, it gives you a year of Office 365, Xbox Live Gold, Skype WiFi + Unlimited World, and Microsoft Assure, as well as a $60 gift card that can be used in Microsoft&rsquo;s Windows, Xbox, Music, Movies &amp; TV, or Windows Phone stores. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if you don&rsquo;t plan on making Skype calls around the world or using Assure&rsquo;s help desk support, you&rsquo;re still getting a year of Office (which is normally $100, and includes 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage) and Xbox Live (which is normally $60) at $10 off. And a $60 gift card on top of that.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">That&rsquo;s enough for, say, a new Xbox One game, or four HD movies. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if you&rsquo;re already signed up these services, the code is still good for your next year. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Microsoft runs these kind of deals every so often, and clearly, it&rsquo;s a way for them to keep locking people into its many services. But given that Office 365 and Xbox Live are things people actually use, you could probably do worse than snagging $60 in store credit for your troubles.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;subid=&amp;offerid=402138.1&amp;type=10&amp;tmpid=3763&amp;RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoftstore.com%2Fstore%2Fmsusa%2Fen_US%2Fpdp%2FproductID.326420400%3FWT.mc_id%3DWPBundle_WPcom_V3_US_PdP"><strong>Microsoft Work &amp; Play Bundle Bundle</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">, $149.00, available at Microsoft Store</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<hr />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/InsiderPicks/posts/1629057890680252" data-width="500" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block; width: 500px; padding: 0 0 20px 0;"></div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-budget-tv-guide-2015-11" >These are the best budget TVs you can buy</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>READ THIS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-laptops-guide-2015-10" >These are the best laptops on the market</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-deals-of-the-day-november-5-2015-11" >These are today's best deals from around the web</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-work-and-play-bundle-office-xbox-live-deal-2015-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-went-down-not-from-hackers-2015-1Xbox Live Went Down Yesterday, But It Wasn't Because Of Hackers (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-went-down-not-from-hackers-2015-1
Thu, 29 Jan 2015 14:53:43 -0500Julie Bort
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/548def35ecad047349d99e4f-1200-924/anonymous-hacker-3.jpg" alt="Anonymous hacker" border="0"></p><p>If you are an Xbox Live gamer, you probably noticed <a href="https://twitter.com/XboxSupport/status/560588262620663808">that the site was down</a> yesterday.</p>
<p>The outage lasted for <a href="https://twitter.com/XboxSupport/status/560626565369708544">about three hours.</a></p>
<p>You may have taken to Twitter to complain about it, or research it, and saw people talking about how Xbox Live was hacked by the hacking group Anonymous.</p>
<p>That's because while Xbox Live <a href="https://twitter.com/theanonmovement/status/560605943764107264">was down, Anonymous tweeted</a> that they had hacked the gamer network and stole a bunch of gamer data.</p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XboxLive?src=hash">#XboxLive</a> now belongs to us. All online gaming data will be seized by Anonymous. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XboxLiveDown?src=hash">#XboxLiveDown</a> </p>— Anonymous (@TheAnonMovement) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/560605943764107264">January 29, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></div>
<p>Anonymous also tweeted that they took Xbox down by blocking access to the site, through what's known as "distributed denial of service" attack (DDoS). A DDoS attack is when a hacker controls many computers all over the Internet and tells them to access a website at the same time, overwhelming the site with requests and bringing it down.</p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Anonymous is actually DDoSing Xbox Live. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Anoymous?src=hash">#Anoymous</a> was made for "Teh Lulz". We do fight for people around the globe, but we also troll. :) </p>— Anonymous (@AnonEnvironment) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/560605885152915456">January 29, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer">Microsoft isn't saying what caused the problem. We asked if it was a DDoS attack and were told "no comment."</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">But a source close to the company tells us it wasn't anything as nefarious as a DDoS attack. Someone updated some software that Xbox Live didn't like, bringing the thing crashing down, our source suspects.</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">That would make it an old fashioned human error, and would mean that your Xbox Live data is safe, not in the hands of hackers.</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">With all the actual hack attacks going on, it might be nice to know that not every outage is really caused by a bad guy trying to steal your data.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/25-most-valuable-cloud-companies-2015-1" >The 25 Most Valuable Cloud Computing Companies Are Worth Way More Than You'd Think</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-went-down-not-from-hackers-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-xbox-one-outsold-the-ps4-over-the-holidays-2015-1The Holiday Console War Winner Has Been Decided (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/the-xbox-one-outsold-the-ps4-over-the-holidays-2015-1
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:13:22 -0500Sam Colt
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51c077c2ecad043611000022-480-/xbox-one-5.jpg" border="0" alt="xbox one" width="480">The Xbox One outsold Sony's PS4 over the holidays in the U.S., according to retail analyst NPD. Microsoft boasted about the win <a href="http://news.xbox.com/2015/01/xbox-one-record-breaking-holiday-look-ahead-2015">this afternoon.</a></span></p>
<p>Xbox said the console would continue being sold at $349, a price cut Microsoft has held onto <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-one-sales-have-skyrocketed-2014-11">since November</a>.</p>
<p>The PS4 has generally retailed for $399, unbundled.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, Xbox also sold more games for the Xbox One than Sony did for the PS4 over the holidays.</p>
<p>Microsoft hopes to keep the momentum going in 2015 by enticing gamers with new titles like "Rise of the Tomb Raider" and "Evolve."</p>
<p>Microsoft will also need to replace Xbox's so-called <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-star-xbox-engineer-is-leaving-microsoft-2014-12">"Father of Invention,"</a>&nbsp;<span>Boyd Multerer,</span>&nbsp;who left the company last month.</p>
<p>Both Xbox Live and Playstation Network <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-are-down-and-the-notorious-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-taking-credit-2014-12">were taken down"Lizard Squad,"</a> a hacker gang, around Christmas.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Lizard Squad </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">reportedly</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> hacked both networks "for the laughs" and to anger users, though that obviously didn't affect the Xbox One's sales.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Network</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-xbox-one-outsold-the-ps4-over-the-holidays-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lizard-squad-seems-to-have-gone-silent-2014-12The 'Lizard Squad' Seems To Have Gone Silenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-lizard-squad-seems-to-have-gone-silent-2014-12
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:15:00 -0500Dave Smith
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54a1b95becad044e063afd09-1200-924/chinese-water-dragon-lizard-1.jpg" border="0" alt="chinese-water-dragon-lizard"></p><p>The notorious hacker gang <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">"Lizard Squad"</a> seems to have gone quiet — and it's not clear why.</p>
<p>T<span>he group's&nbsp;</span><span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia/">Twitter account</a>&nbsp;has not posted anything in 24 hours, after tweeting nonstop for the past several days and weeks.</p>
<p>Lizard Squad was extremely active and vocal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-are-down-and-the-notorious-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-taking-credit-2014-12">on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day</a>&nbsp;when the group<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;claimed to have successfully taken down two major gaming networks, Sony's PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Even after the group agreed to stop attacking those networks on Friday afternoon, the group seemed to have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12">shifted its attention to Tor</a>, the anonymous communications service, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-to-lizard-squad-stop-attacking-tor-2014-12">drawing the ire</a> of the international hactivist collective Anonymous.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Lizard Squad didn't seem intimidated by Anonymous, or anyone. In fact, the group seemed willing to communicate with the public, and in interviews with press.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Lizard Squad members spoke to <a href="http://www.winbeta.org/news/exclusive-interview-cyber-terrorist-group-lizard-squad-why-they-brought-down-xbox-live-and-psn">WinBeta</a> and <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/technology/lizard-squad-hackers/">Daily Dot</a>, even during its attacks on the game networks. One member <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-member-reveals-his-face-in-a-tv-interview-2014-12">revealed his face in a full interview UK's Sky News</a>. I</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">t even sent three members to take part in an <a href="http://youtu.be/PGTbttD91pI">18-minute interview</a> that included Kim Dotcom and members of Anonymous: Lizard Squad used all these platforms to answer questions and explain its rationale for the string of recent attacks on these internet networks.</span></p>
<p>But now, everything on the hacker collective front is eerily quiet. No interviews, no online activity.</p>
<p>Meanwhile,&nbsp;<span>Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Tor all appear to be back online.</span></p>
<p><span>Some points/theories to consider:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Lizard Squad <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-has-stopped-attacking-playstation-network-and-xbox-live-2014-12">promised it would never attack PlayStation Network or Xbox Live again</a>, after accepting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kim-dotcom-xbox-live-psn-hack-2014-12">Kim Dotcom's offer</a> of lifetime premium memberships to his subscription service, so perhaps they're actually keeping their word: Maybe the group that's known for its DDoS attacks on game networks is really, actually, done targeting them. And maybe attacking Tor proved too difficult a challenge, so they're regrouping.</li>
<li>Lizard Squad is known for taking down game networks and it just successfully manhandled PlayStation Network and Xbox Live for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-and-playstation-network-are-still-down-and-the-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-loving-it-2014-12">two straight days</a>, during the biggest holiday of the year for gamers. That's a tough feat to top — perhaps the group is taking a break.</li>
<li>After so many interviews with Lizard Squad members, a security researcher <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/names-of-hackers-in-lizard-squad-attacks-playstation-xbox-2014-12">believes he has identified some of the members</a>. So it's possible the group is now strategically laying low, waiting for things to cool down before acting up again.</li>
</ul>
<p><span>We've reached out to Lizard Squad and we'll update the story if any members respond.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-member-reveals-his-face-in-a-tv-interview-2014-12" >Alleged ‘Lizard Squad’ Member Reveals His Face In A TV Interview</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lizard-squad-seems-to-have-gone-silent-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-member-reveals-his-face-in-a-tv-interview-2014-12Alleged ‘Lizard Squad’ Member Reveals His Face In A TV Interviewhttp://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-member-reveals-his-face-in-a-tv-interview-2014-12
Sat, 27 Dec 2014 15:11:00 -0500Dave Smith
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/549f103869bedd3e298b456d-1200-706/screen%20shot%202014-12-27%20at%202.59.15%20pm.png" border="0" alt="ryan-lizard-squad">After <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-are-down-and-the-notorious-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-taking-credit-2014-12">allegedly taking down</a> Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live on Christmas Eve and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-and-playstation-network-are-still-down-and-the-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-loving-it-2014-12">Christmas Day</a>, one of the hackers from the collective “Lizard Squad” has spoken out, revealing his face in an <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1398435/xbox-hacker-reveals-why-he-attacked-consoles">interview with UK’s Sky News</a>.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The interview with the alleged Lizard Squad member, a Finland-based man using the alias “Ryan,” was conducted via Skype. It can be viewed at the bottom of the page.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Here’s what “Ryan” said, regarding Lizard Squad's takedown of the game networks over the holidays:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>How it happened:</strong> "This attack was basically done by three people. We had a couple of people from outside the group helping with the attacks, helping us a little bit, but most of the traffic was coming from one or two people."</li>
<li>
<strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">Why they did it</a>:</strong> "Mostly to raise awareness - to amuse ourselves… One of the big aspects here was raising awareness regarding the low state of computer security at these companies. Because these companies make tens of millions every month from subscriber fees and that doesn't even include purchases made by their customers. They should have more than enough funding to be able to protect against these attacks.</li>
<li>
<strong>If he feels bad about what he did:</strong> "I'd be rather worried if those people didn't have anything better to do than play games on their consoles on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day… I mean I can't really be (inaudible) feel bad. I might have forced a couple of kids to spend their time with their families instead of playing games.” </li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">As of Friday afternoon, Lizard Squad says it is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-has-stopped-attacking-playstation-network-and-xbox-live-2014-12">no longer attacking</a> Xbox Live or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-is-still-down-and-nobody-knows-why-2014-12">PlayStation Network</a>, instead allegedly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12">shifting its focus to the Tor Project</a>, the anonymous communications service. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tor-responds-to-the-cyber-attack-on-its-network-allegedly-executed-by-the-same-hacker-gang-that-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">Tor updated Business Insider on the state of the attacks</a> early Saturday morning.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Check out the interview below (the alleged hacker’s face is revealed at 1:51), and visit Sky News <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1398435/xbox-hacker-reveals-why-he-attacked-consoles">for more from that interview</a>.</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tor-responds-to-the-cyber-attack-on-its-network-allegedly-executed-by-the-same-hacker-gang-that-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Tor Responds To The Cyber Attack On Its Network</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Network</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-member-reveals-his-face-in-a-tv-interview-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/tor-responds-to-the-cyber-attack-on-its-network-allegedly-executed-by-the-same-hacker-gang-that-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12Tor Responds To The Cyber Attack On Its Network, Allegedly Executed By The Same Hacker Gang That Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Networkhttp://www.businessinsider.com/tor-responds-to-the-cyber-attack-on-its-network-allegedly-executed-by-the-same-hacker-gang-that-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12
Sat, 27 Dec 2014 10:18:13 -0500Dave Smith
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/549ecab5eab8ea5c6c7d26fb-1200-924/onion-15.png" border="0" alt="onion">The Tor Project on Saturday morning acknowledged a cyber attack on this network, and provided the following statement to Business Insider:</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p class="p3" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="s1">This looks like a regular attempt at a <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Sybil_attack">Sybil attack</a>: the attackers </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">have signed up many new relays in hopes of becoming a large fraction of the network. But even though they are running thousands of new relays, their relays currently make up less than 1% of the Tor network by capacity. We are working now to remove these relays from the network before they become a threat, and we don't expect any anonymity or performance effects based on what we've seen so far.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Tor's service <a href="https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en"><span class="s4">keeps users anonymous</span></a> by bouncing communications around a large network of computers known as "volunteer nodes." <a href="http://gizmodo.com/hackers-who-shut-down-psn-and-xbox-live-now-attacking-t-1675331908"><span class="s4">But as Gizmodo pointed out on Friday</span></a>, if one group can control most of the nodes — which is what Lizard Squad <a href="https://twitter.com/kaepora/status/548528042440925185">reportedly attempted to do</a> — it may “be able to eavesdrop on a substantial number of vulnerable users.” That obviously has massive implications on the privacy of millions of people who rely on the anonymous service.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">It’s still unclear who attacked Tor, but the notorious hacker gang “<a href="https://twitter.com/lizardmafia"><span class="s2">Lizard Squad</span></a>,” which also claims responsibility for taking down PlayStation Network and Xbox Live for two straight days over the Christmas holiday, also <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia/status/548525026027507712"><span class="s2">tweeted</span></a> they were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12"><span class="s2">behind the Tor attack</span></a> on Friday.</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
To clarify, we are no longer attacking PSN or Xbox. We are testing our new Tor 0day. </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548525026027507712">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Lizard Squad <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">explained why it allegedly went after the game networks</a>, but it’s still unclear why this hacker collective shifted its attention to Tor.</span></p>
<p class="p5"><span class="s3"><a href="https://www.torproject.org/">The Tor Project</a></span><span class="s1"> is one of the most effective sites for encrypted communication, making it one of the most important internet services in the world. Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden have used the service, and it's proven pivotal in "dissident movements” in Iran and Egypt.</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p class="p8"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">A few hours after Lizard Squad announced it was focusing on Tor, the international activist group Anonymous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-to-lizard-squad-stop-attacking-tor-2014-12">told the Lizards to “stand down”</a> and stop attacking Tor, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status/548651155828781056"><span class="s4">adding</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">, "We don't give a f--k about corporate bulls--t networks, we do care about 3rd world communications."</span></p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia">@LizardMafia</a> don't fuck with the Tor network. People need that service because of corrupt governments. Stand the fuck down. </p>— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548649294711255041">December 27, 2014</a>
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<p>
Do something. <a href="https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews">@YourAnonNews</a> </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548651163886034945">December 27, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Based on Tor’s thorough response, however, it seems like the issue is being taken seriously by the organization, and its users will have little to worry about in that regard.</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p class="p7"><span class="s1">Meanwhile, days after the initial attacks began, we’re still waiting on word from both Sony and Microsoft as to what exactly happened to their game networks over the Christmas holiday. They have yet to confirm whether or not the outages were the result of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, </span><span class="s5">which overloads network servers by having botnets send a massive amount of bogus requests, or if it was something else entirely.</span></p>
<p class="p7"><span class="s5">As of Saturday morning, <a href="https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/237/~/psn-status%3A-online">PlayStation Network</a> is gradually coming back online, and several <a href="http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status">Xbox Live</a> apps are still "limited."</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Network</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-to-lizard-squad-stop-attacking-tor-2014-12" >Anonymous To 'Lizard Squad': Stop Attacking Tor</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tor-responds-to-the-cyber-attack-on-its-network-allegedly-executed-by-the-same-hacker-gang-that-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-has-stopped-attacking-playstation-network-and-xbox-live-2014-12Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Says It Has Stopped Attacking PlayStation Network And Xbox Live — And Will Never Do It Againhttp://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-has-stopped-attacking-playstation-network-and-xbox-live-2014-12
Fri, 26 Dec 2014 19:45:00 -0500Dave Smith
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/549e04cbeab8ea310eb8d9ca-1200-924/lizard-8.jpg" border="0" alt="lizard">The notorious hacker collective “Lizard Squad” says it is <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia/status/548616435183140864">no longer attacking</a> PlayStation Network or Xbox Live and will not do so in the future.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">You can thank Kim Dotcom for that, the group says on Twitter.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Kim <span>Schmitz, a.k.a. Kim </span><span>Dotcom, is the German founder of the defunct file-hosting service Megaupload, and the current founder of his new file-hosting service, Mega. He is also the founder and main funder of New Zealand's "Internet Party."</span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span><span>Despite what Lizard Squad says, however, as of Friday evening, </span><a href="https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/237/~/psn-status%3A-online">PlayStation Network is still down</a><span>, and </span><a href="http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status">Xbox Live is extremely limited</a><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Confirming again that we are no longer attacking PSN or XBL, nor are any members. We will not be attacking them in the future. Thank MEGA. </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548616435183140864">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">On Thursday, after </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-are-down-and-the-notorious-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-taking-credit-2014-12">24 hours of solid outages</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> on Sony and Microsoft's game networks — believed to be DDoS attacks from Lizard Squad — Dotcom </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kim-dotcom-xbox-live-psn-hack-2014-12">reached out</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> to the hacker collective, offering lifetime premium subscriptions to his new encrypted filesharing service, Mega.</span></p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
Hi <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia">@LizardMafia</a>, I want to play <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Destiny?src=hash">#Destiny</a> on XBOX Live. I'll give your entire crew Mega lifetime premium vouchers if you let us play. Cool? </p>— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548264349760901120">December 25, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span class="s1" style="line-height: 1.5em;">Following the initial offer, Lizard Squad <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia/status/548281823273680896">stopped its attacks</a> on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live — for about six hours. Then it started them up again on Friday morning. </span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span class="s1" style="line-height: 1.5em;">But late Friday afternoon, the Lizard Squad says it has stopped throttling the game networks, citing Dotcom's earlier offer.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br></span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span class="s1" style="line-height: 1.5em;">On Thursday, Lizard Squad said they initially wanted to take<span> down PlayStation Network and Xbox Live “for the laughs,” but eventually the collective found a cause to rally behind: forcing these companies to upgrade the security on their networks.</span></span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span class="s1" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>It's unclear how Dotcom's offer solves any of those issues, but perhaps the Lizard Squad members felt they got their point across, and settled to exit with their prizes: lifetime memberships to Dotcom's new privacy service.<br><br></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Finest Squad, the hacker group that’s been </span><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-hack-playstation-and-xbox-2014-12#ixzz3MwCLeR9z">busy keeping Lizard Squad at bay</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> for the past 48+ hours, also confirms to Business Insider that Lizard Squad is “never attacking xbox or psn [sic] again.”</span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Then again, it’s tough to take Lizard Squad at its word, considering how this anonymous international group seems to enjoy putting a major damper on the holidays for a lot of people. But of course, Lizard Squad doesn't see it that way.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
These corporations make billions off your existence and still don't even pay their tax. And you're still defending them? Open your eyes. </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548621930606370816">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer">We're continuing to reach out to Microsoft and Sony on this matter and we'll update this story as soon as we learn anything.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12" >‘Lizard Squad,’ The Hacker Gang That Shut Down PlayStation Network And Xbox Live For 2 Straight Days, Is Now Reportedly Attacking Tor</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Network</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-squad-has-stopped-attacking-playstation-network-and-xbox-live-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12‘Lizard Squad,’ The Hacker Gang That Shut Down PlayStation Network And Xbox Live For 2 Straight Days, Is Now Reportedly Attacking Torhttp://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12
Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:26 -0500Dave Smith
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/549dc96cecad0478248b4569-483-362/lizard-6.jpg" border="0" alt="Lizard">“Lizard Squad,” the notorious hacker collective <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-network-and-xbox-live-are-down-and-the-notorious-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-taking-credit-2014-12">that will now be known for shutting down</a> Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-and-playstation-network-are-still-down-and-the-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-loving-it-2014-12">two straight days</a> starting on Christmas Eve, is now reportedly after the anonymous communication service, the Tor Project.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">While the hacker group <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12">offered an explanation</a> for hammering Sony's and Microsoft's game networks with DDoS attacks, the group has not yet stated why they are going after the anonymous communication service. </span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Tor Project is one of the most popular and effective sites for encrypted communication: Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden have used the service, and it's proven pivotal in "dissident movements" in Iran and Egypt.</span></p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
To clarify, we are no longer attacking PSN or Xbox. We are testing our new Tor 0day. </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548525026027507712">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Tor's service </span><a href="https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en">keeps users anonymous</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> by bouncing communications around a large network of computers known as "volunteer nodes." <a href="http://gizmodo.com/hackers-who-shut-down-psn-and-xbox-live-now-attacking-t-1675331908">But as Gizmodo points out</a>, if one group can control most of the nodes — which is exactly what Lizard Squad is attempting to do here — it may “be able to eavesdrop on a substantial number of vulnerable users.”</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Computer programmer Nadim Kobeissi says Lizard Squad has claimed nearly half of Tor’s ~8,000 relays.</span></p>
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There's a total of ~8,000 Tor relays - <a href="https://twitter.com/LizardMafia">@LizardMafia</a> now owns almost half of them. Big implications on Tor anonymity. <a href="https://t.co/6RhTLqDS2p">https://t.co/6RhTLqDS2p</a> </p>— Nadim Kobeissi (@kaepora) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548528042440925185">December 26, 2014</a>
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Hi, do you guys still give away shirts for relay owners? We need about 3000 <a href="https://twitter.com/torproject">@torproject</a> </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548539099188297730">December 26, 2014</a>
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This is what the Tor network looks like right now. <a href="http://t.co/0QQAGVTRRI">pic.twitter.com/0QQAGVTRRI</a> </p>— Nadim Kobeissi (@kaepora) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548530922422026240">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As with the earlier attacks on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, there’s no way of truly knowing who is responsible for these service issues. Sony and Microsoft have not yet come forward to announce how their networks were brought down, and that's likely because the companies still needed to put out the fire.</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As for the Tor project, the group has not released any statements. We've reached out the group and we'll update this story as soon as we learn more. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br></span></p>
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All your onions are belong to us. </p>— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/548523618901454848">December 26, 2014</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12" >Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live And PlayStation Network</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xbox-live-and-playstation-network-are-still-down-and-the-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-is-loving-it-2014-12" >Xbox Live And PlayStation Network Are Still Down, And The Hacker Gang ‘Lizard Squad’ Is Loving It</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-lizard-squad-attacking-tor-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>